Taiwan’s Chunghwa Post plans to access QFII market

Chunghwa Post, Taiwan’s postal service provider, which has around NT$700 billion (US$23.3 billion) in insurance pension funds, is looking to tap into China’s Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) market, according to a report from Commercial Times.

Chunghwa Post Chairperson Jih-Chu Lee held talks with the representatives from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) in Beijing on July 16 to explore cross-strait opportunities in the postal, insurance and banking sectors.

Ms. Lee expressed positive sentiment regarding access to the QFII market: “The Mainland regulatory bodies have confirmed that they will speed up the approval process for our application. We hope to secure US$200 million QFII quota in the short term.”

Chunghwa Post has recently been raising the weighting of China-related assets in its portfolio. Last August, it unveiled an initiative to invest in Hong Kong Dim Sum bonds.

Chunghwa Post reported operating revenue of NT$86.4 million for the first quarter of this year, against NT$95.8 million a year earlier.